Old School

1. Re: Old School

   #81

   Taking the flask in her hand and raising to hold it under her nose, she tentatively gave it a sniff, her eyes lit up at the fiery fumes emanating from within and she smiled. She took a swig and let it burn down her throat, before handing it back to Asha with a grin spread across her face and flashing her slightly more pointed canines. "That is good! I might have to make a midnight.. excursion at some point." It'll do brilliantly for now, and kick back even better once I get some tablets!
   
   "A telescope?" she mused, "Oh no dearie, I have this" Anya pointed toward the .50 she had laid against the barrier after climbing up. "She's my baby, my beautiful, roaring, lioness!"
   
   She felt the pride rushing through her, almost adrenaline-like. Or perhaps that was the alcohol. She didn't mind which, it felt good.

2. Re: Old School

   #82

   Asha eyed the rifle with approval, having seen similar weapon in the towers of Stonehammer in the hands of decidedly trigger happy guardsman, wondering silently if the woman before her had more reserve. "Please, just call me Asha," She told her with a warmer smile, taking another swig from the flask before tucking back under her coat.
   
   She eyed Anya's canines with a tilt of her head, wondering briefly if it was her imagination or if they were unnaturally lengthened? It would be nice to find other muties, or at least a place where being one won't get me strung up by a mob and killed. "So, have you lived here all your life?" She asked casually, admiring the sunset from behind her glasses, looking forward to the approaching darkness when they would be no longer necessary. "Compared to Stonehammer this place is down right-" She hesitated, finding the words droll, and quaint to seem a bit demeaning, "Tame and laid back, it's quite a change from what I'm used to." She confessed, patting the tower top next to her.
   
   "Feel free to take a seat, I don't bite, well not unless a pretty girl asks me to, and even I'm gentle." She said with a wink and giggle.

3. Re: Old School

   #83

   Qwell's home was an array of old vans he had pushed together and patched up with wood.  Moldy seats were removed and replaced with wooden benches and the like and formed a small warren of structures.
   
   He chose those with still good windshields and reasonably free of dents.
   
   Then one window shattered violently, and moments later, other windows were suddenly painted red.
   
   Asha and Anya could hear the sound of the shattered windshield from their high vantage point, but only barely.  A black blur could be seen leaving the small cluster of vehicles, heading toward some thick brush.
   
   Anya rushed to grab her rifle, but the target was no longer visible when she had the scope up.
   
   
   
   

4. Re: Old School

   #84

   Asha half drew her Glock at the sound of shattering glass, the black blur well out of handgun range. "I saw that thing earlier near the wall!" She exclaimed, moving over to the ladder and quickly sliding down by holding the side rungs, a burst of adrenaline quelling the ache of her leg. Upon hitting the ground she moved towards the van house at a slightly less than brisk pace, gritting her teeth against the occasional painful twinge of her injury.

5. Re: Old School

   #85

   "You'll fit in alright here, Asha, don't worry about it, it's through being a collection of oddballs that we become normal," Anya replied with a grin before adding "the pace is nice and gentle here, we patrol when something comes up, which isn't all too often.." She paused, in recent times things had picked up..
   
   

   
   "Feel free to take a seat, I don't bite, well not unless a pretty girl asks me to, and even I'm gentle." She said with a wink and giggle.
   

   
   
   Anya, felt a giggle of her own pass her lips at the woman's welcome forwardness. It had been a while. A long while, and her teasing statement intensified Anya's longing for closeness.
   
   The smash and tinkling of glass ruined the moment and as Asha slid down the ladder, she yelled down after her "send a runner to the Mayor and our captain of the guard!"
   
   She resumed scanning the area around the van, sweeping in wide arcs around it to detect any unusual movements or displacement of the surrounding area.
   
   A single raider? They don't operate like that.

6. Re: Old School

   #86

   Marcus sighed at Louis' comment, but wasted no more breathe in response. They heaved it ever closer to its destination when Marcus as well heard the windshield's destruction.
   
   "What the @!#$ was that?" Marcus said, scanning the area, setting down his side of the weapon. "Come on, we should check it out."
   
   Whatever it was, it had all ready done him a favor. For which he would repay it, if it was hostile, with a taste of his axe's steel.

7. Re: Old School

   #87

   Nothing was visible in the open, apart from some very recent tracks, heading from the van to a lightly wooded area, though heavy with brush.
   
   As they approached the van, the silence from it, and the amount of blood on the windows spoke to the scene inside. 
   
   

8. Re: Old School

   #88

   Marcus approached the van warily. He eyed the tracks leaving, attempting to judge what kind of monster it was, before he looked at the van. He noted the splattered blood, the shattered windshield, the ominous silence.
   
   Still, he came to a decision. Qwell could still be alive somehow, though Marcus wished fervently, for Qwell's sake, that it were not so. The tracks could wait.
   
   "Louis, can you guard the area, in case it comes back? I'm going in." So saying, he swung his body in through the windshield, dropping stealthily. Who knew, multiple beasties could have come in, and only some had left. Eyeing the scene, he went in search of the body. He had to see this for himself, had to see what manner of creature he faced, whether it was worthy of mercy.

9. Re: Old School

   #89

   Asha arrived just in time to see Marcus vanish into the interior, confident he could handle himself in the close confines alone without much difficulty. She gave Louis a polite nod before kneeling down next to the tracks, giving them a closer look. While she was no ranger, she did could at least tell the difference in tracks  to recognize dog from cat, or the more distinctive outline of a humanoid imprint.
   
   (perception/lore roll please Val?)

10. Re: Old School

    #90

    
    The first thing that Marcus noticed were the eyes -lolled back as Qwell's head looked towards him, nearly severed by what appeared to have been a single, ferocious bite to the throat.  Blood covered the interior and was still quite wet.
    
    Qwell's battered hunting rifle lay close at hand - a poor weapon in the enclosed space of his home.
    
    --------------------------
    
    Asha found the prints were quite clear - canine and deep, surprisingly so. 
    
    
    Anya hear the sound of the breakage of sticks as something was running away in the distance, but the brush denied her any target...
    

11. Re: Old School

    #91

    The crashing of the man or creature charging through the brush gave her a direction, but the brush itself obscured any targets. With everyone else behind the line she opened up into the area, loosing off 3 rounds each further away than the last.
    
    With a yell from her position atop the tower, Anya directed the others into the brush before shouldering her rifle to grip the ladders rails and slide down herself. She then pulled her Glock and made to catch up with the others.

12. Re: Old School

    #92

    Waited near the tracks, knowing that to charge blindly into the bush after a man killer right as full dark arrived was to offer herself as its next victim, night vision or no. "The trail will be there in the morning, and unless someone has some real powerful lightning, following it in the dark is a lost cause anyway, we're more likely to blunder into bandits or other predators than find this thing." She offered to those within ear shot.
    
    She winced slightly at the sound of the high caliber rifle, mentally calculating the cost of every bullet, especially ones of such rare manufacture; hopefully the mayor was picking up the tab for ammo expenditure.

13. Re: Old School

    #93

    Marcus looked down at the scene, unable to look away for a couple of moments. He stared at the head, questions thundering in his head. If it was an animal, why didn't it eat the head? Or at least bring it as a snack for later. Maybe it came to kill, maybe it just loved the taste of murder. Whatever the case, a beast that could do this, that could sever head from neck with a single bite, needed to be removed.
    
    He moved to leave the scene, when the rifle caught his eye. To take or not to take? He wanted a gun, and partly needed one, especially for its purpose: hunting. It wasn't like Qwell needed it. But it seemed a tad disrespectful to loot the place so soon after it owner was killed. He shrugged. Perhaps he could assuage the souls of the dead by killing their killer with their own weapon.
    
    Marcus left with the hunting rifle in hand, stowing any extra ammo Qwell had in a pocket Marcus searches the place for ammo, taking nothing but ammo for the rifle. Stats for gun would be appreciated.. He blinked in the harsh sunlight.
    
    "Qwell's dead. He died quick, far as I can tell," he told the assembled people gruffly. "If yer squeamish 'round blood, I wouldn't suggest goin' in there."
    
    He eyed the approaching darkness, and then he eyed each person in turn: Anya, Louis, the new girl, and then he said, "Come on, we got a beast to kill."
    
    With one eye on the trail, he set off into the woods, the night, and justice.
    
    Marcus is not out of earshot or very far: you may choose to follow or talk him down

14. Re: Old School

    #94

    As Marcus was inspecting the van, and as he retrieved the rifle, he heard the Boom of the heavy caliber rifle.
    
    A stump burst into splinters.
    
    Boom!
    
    A round buried itself into the dirt.
    
    Boom!
    
    A rock shattered into pieces.
    
    
    Running feet flew deeper into the underbrush, unscathed but certainly hurried on its way.
    
    
    Rifle has stats per 7.62 Remington.  2d10, 5 round internal storage (slow reload, each round needs inserted). -2 to hit due to damage, and fumble range increased to include nat 2 and 3.  Converted to blackpowder.  Rifle is currently loaded, and a box with 21 rounds was found quickly.
    
    
    
    

15. Re: Old School

    #95

    Carny was in the bathroom, washing her hands after a long evening of tinkering with the old car wreck. Tilly's beau Sig had helped her out, but progress was slow. She pulled her pants down and sat down on the cold porcelain stool, it was broken of course, like everything else, but with a water bucket serving as a means to flushing it, it still served its original purpose as well as being a rare piece of luxury.
    
    The cool evening air wafted in through the barred window, when the chorus of bugs was broken by rifle fire. One, two, three shots. Something must have happened. Carnegie hurriedly finished, pulled up her pants and ran back out to her room and geared up. A tired Elvis was roused by the activity and followed suit. Together they sprinted towards where Carny judged the sound to have emanated, rifle on her back.

16. Re: Old School

    #96

    Anya caught up to Marcus as he checked over the weapon he'd picked up near Qwell's remains. Messy.
    
    The fast approaching darkness wouldn't help them track whoever, or whatever had caused this. "We'd be better off locking the town down. Posting dual sentries. See if there are any NVGs in the armoury that we can distribute."
    
    "There's little to be gained by pursuing it now. We can do that on the morrow. For now, I suggest we secure this town." She said, nodding her approval at Asha's sensible words.
    
    "That said, if you want to push on Marcus, you've got me at your shoulder."

17. Re: Old School

    #97

    "Chasing a man killer in full dark is a great way to become its victim or blunder into a raider encampment, the trail will still be there in the morning, and we can follow it without lights giving away our position to  two legged predators," she suggested helpfully. "Shoring up whatever hole in the wall allowed it go get in here is a more pressing concern anyway I'd imagine."

18. Re: Old School

    #98

    Marcus paused as he listened to the two women, his eyes never straying from a particular spot of the forest before him, as if the maple leaf's gentle swaying held such mystique wonders to keep any sage of the world entranced. His sight never wavering, he spoke.
    
    "Justice cannot wait, it must be sought and fought for; no one else in this desolate world in which we live will fight for it for you. True, as its you who's gettin' it, its equal parts justice and vengeance, but even so, it must be fought for. Justice, or the pursuit of it at least, is what separate man from beast," and here his voice dipped low, so low the others could barely hear it, even if they strained their ears, "even if both lie in the same creature."
    
    Here he turned, to face his audience. "If you lot say wait, then I will wait, and we shall go hunting at first light. But if you say go, or even choose not to answer, then I will go. But you- you did not see what that thing did to him."

19. Re: Old School

    #99

    "What you're saying makes sense of course, and I agree with you."
    
    Anya paused, nodding briefly at Asha's words, before continuing.
    
    "We can pursue the killer tomorrow, after we have done our best to ensure the safety of the towns inhabitants. The main thing, as you've rightly pointed out, is to fix the holes in our perimeter. After which we should do a full sweep, to see if we can discover any further gaps we are unaware of."

20. Re: Old School

    #100

    The three shots had drawn the full attention of the garrison at Red Tower and the wall facing them bore a good number of armed Kenebacers.
    
    Luis came up shortly, along with some others, including Kreadle and the Mayor.
    
    "What the hell happened here?" said the mayor, "More coyotes? If so, never seen them do anything like that." he pointed to the red windshields. 
    
    
    You are currently outside of the actually quite small walled portion of Red Tower.  The community is too sprawling to have a solid perimeter, and most of the homesteads are independantly fortified to some degree. Qwells was fairly lightly fortified, counting on the close proximity of the Red Tower fortress.
    
    
    

21. Re: Old School

    #101

    Asha nodded in agreement, "At first  light then, we should also clean up or set the dead mans place to the torch, the scent of blood and entrails will draw avery predator for miles around." She suggested helpfully. "Or at the very least post a few guards to shoot whatever comes looking for supper."
    
    She nodded to the mayor, pointing to the tracks and letting Marcus fill him in on what he discovered.

22. Re: Old School

    #102

    Carnegie navigated through the throng reaching her peers. "Wut's uh goin on? Ah 'eard shots." Quite a grizzly scene met her, she croached down to take a closer look at the tracks, waving at someone with a torch to come close enough for her to see.
    
    (21:24:51) Minion: Gossamer rullar 1d20 och får 8. (+8) to my survival check, total of 16.

23. Re: Old School

    #103

    "Qwell's in his house, Mayor, Carnegie," Marcus began, "And some beastie @!#$ed him up good. He's dead, I made sure of that, an' its a bloody scene."
    
    He nodded at Asha. "She's right, we should burn it. If anyone wants something of Qwell's, or if ya want to inspect the body, Mayor, now is the time."
    
    Marcus removed a torch from his pack, as well as flint, and in a practiced motion lit it, and then waited patiently for the go ahead.

24. Re: Old School

    #104

    At the suggestion of burning the structure, the major gave a hurried no.
    
    "I'd rather take my chances with the four-footed threats than give any of our 2-footed neighbors a reason to pay us a visit.  Might even bring the stone-boys on us, and no-one wants that.
    No, well leave some traps about in case anything does come a'sniffing.  Also, Qwell's got relations and they'll have a stake in his goods. All of them." At that comment he looked at Marcus.
    
    "Qwell was known to have a few things that go 'boom', and I don't think you found em all that quickly."
    
    "Waiting for daylight is the most prudent course I agree. I don't like this though, something very strange is going on."
    
    

25. Re: Old School

    #105

    "It also wouldn't do to go burning down his dwelling if the family has no further use for it, given that we can re-use a lot of the materials."
    
    Anya paused. Thoughts of tracking the creature in the lessening light still in her mind.
    
    "Okay Mayor, we'll wait up. How about setting out a doubled watch? I'd be happy to sit up in the Crow's Nest and take a looksie." She volunteered.

26. Re: Old School

    #106

    I'm willing to keep you company," She offered Anya with a shrug, "I'm more of a night owl anyway, and I already had a nap this afternoon."

27. Re: Old School

    #107

    Anya accepted her offer, "sure, two are better than one."
    
    and I could learn more about you, and what happened she thought wistfully to herself, trying to remember her last conversation with somebody that had been more than just grunts of acknowledgement on her part, or a report to the Mayor about going on's in the surrounding area.

28. Re: Old School

    #108

    The mayor nodded.  "Sure, that'll work.  Mind you, you'd have a hard time seeing too much in this darkness
    
    Ten minutes later.
    
    Their blood had just started to cool down and boredom was starting to settle in when the sound of gunfire erupted near Tilly's boarding house.  A boom, pause, followed by a number of sharper bang erupted.
    
    Training her rifle quickly to see what was going on, she caught a dark blur darting away from the house, barely perceptable against the dark ground.
    
    Anya can take a shot, though she's trawling for a 20 with range and visibility modifiers.
    
    

29. Re: Old School

    #109

    And that's why I'm sitting on top of a water tower until dawn, she thought quietly to herself grateful the night had finally allowed her to remove her sun glasses and even unfurl her tail slightly in the comfort of darkness.
    
    "Either it's the same one on a kill spree, or there's a pack of nasties!" She told Ayna softly, takign a peek down the ladder in case something had decided a covert scale. "I wonder how it, or they, got inside the city walls."

30. Re: Old School

    #110

    As the thing blurred across her scope again Anya was able to track it as it scurried away, but decided against taking a shot after having already wasted 3 expensive rounds earlier in the day. Was this the same creature?
    
    "It's possible this is just a lone infiltrator, if so, then it's definitely fast," she held a slightly long pause before continuing, "More likely is that they're a pair or small group operating individually. That's what I would do."
    
    "It isn't that difficult to gain entry, we have plenty of gaps in our 'perimeter', if you can call it that. Somebody must have seen something though." She spat these last words in frustration.

31. Re: Old School

    #111

    "I'd be careful about shooting that thing inside the town regardless, it'll go clean through anything short of a tank and kill anything and everything for a good quarter mile afterward easy, not the type of weapon to touch off in a place with friendlies." She reminded her gently, heading over to the ladder and preparing to slide down. "Let's go see if they managed to wound it, if so we'll have a blood trail to track and something injured will likely hole up in a near by home, especially if it's abandoned."
    
    "I'll meet you there, you'll probably want to ditch that 30lb chunk of hardware somewhere so you can keep up," She suggested with a grin letting herself slip down the rails and heading towards Tilly's at a limping trot.

32. Re: Old School

    #112

    "Ditch this? Here? Hell's bells darling, you must be crazy!"
    
    "I do have a lockbox in which to put it, but leaving it here will have to do for now, I just pray that no imbecile takes a fancy to it." More a box with a lock on it she thought absentmindedly. Oh well, semantics..
    
    Suddenly thinking that if the weapon were to be taken, the enemy had a chance of aquiring it as well. This thought made her much more uncomfortable and she decided to strap the cannon to her back regardless of the extra weight. If I can handle an 80Ib bergen, this is nothing..
    
    Okay. Time to go. She slipped down after Asha and followed the woman, checking her corners and rear every so often, not wanting to be surprised in the same manner as Qwell. Poor fucker.

33. Re: Old School

    #113

    Carnegie arrived first at Tilly's, having been nearly there when the gunfire erupted.  Whatever it was, it was fast.
    
    Tilly was attending to Beau's bleeding shoulder while all of Tilly's son's stood at various guard posts. Apparently the thing had jumped the fence and tried to kill Beau in the garden.  Beau was faster than Qwell, and had a sawed off shotgun to boot, so he was able to blast it even as it savaged him. 
    
    Carnegie saw a small blood trail leading towards the fence - how could something take a load of buckshot and not leave more of a trail? Beau had lost more blood than that thing had.
    
    Elvis sniffed at the ground and made an odd sound between a snarl and a whimper. He didn't like this one bit.
    
    Marcus arrived shortly thereafter.
    
    A few minutes later, A&A show up. Caesar and Goss can post now.  No immediate threats, the thing has fled again, though the trail is much clearer this time.
    
    
    

34. Re: Old School

    #114

    Carny ran up to Tilly and Sig. "What's 'appened 'ere?! Did ye get a look at it?" She asked of Tilly's beau, then she dropped down on one knee and started rummaging through her pack for something to stem the bleeding with. "How tha heck kin dat thang not be bleeding... Dat's no ordinary dawg. N'd it looks lajk it's huntin us fer sport, we can't afford ta leave it be any longer..." She mumbled to noone in particular.
    
    (15:12:14) Minion: Gossamer rullar 1d20 och får 10. Heal check, total of 16
    
    I've been suspecting that this thing is a robot, but I haven't really wanted to jump to that conclusion with my character yet. Do I know that robots exist for one thing? I ought to have seen a few in my travels if they're prevalent. Could I get a perception check? If there's no blood maybe there's something else.

35. Re: Old School

    #115

    Beau stammered.  "No normal dog. Big as a wolf, but its jaws...  Like a steel bear trap.  Sparks when I shot it. Fuck that hurts..."
    
    Tilly waved Carny away, "I'll take care of this dear."
    
    Carnie then noticed a chunk of fur on the ground, torn from the thing by Beau's buckshot.

36. Re: Old School

    #116

    As everyone left Qwell's collection of vans, Marcus stayed, eyeing it. Burning it seemed so right, and yet the mayor had raised a good point. But then he heard the shots, and he knew he had to leave.
    
    "@!#$ it," he said to the vans. "I'll leave it ta fate to decide." And he tossed the torch into the vans, and walked away, towards the shots. If it burned, ain't his fault. If it didn't, well, no harm no foul.
    
    Still, he jogged off, towards the shots and Tilly's. When he got there, he took the sight in: the injury, the tracks, the scrap of fur. The beast, the one that got Qwell, had struck again. Even so, he knelt next to Elvis and asked the dog for his insights in that special voice people reserve for puppies. "Why can't this beat be a good boy like you, Elvis?" with quick pat. He stood.
    
    "Hey, Carn," he said, "Wanna go beast-huntin'?" he finished with a small smile.

37. Re: Old School

    #117

    Carnegie picked up the fur and sniffed it. She knew what this was... Just then Marcus came. She nodded at his question. "I dunno iffin Ah wanna be out looking fer this thang in de dark, uhm but Ah dunno iffin we's got a choice either... It's either hunt it down or... Dis...thang, ain't no ordinary critter. Ah think it mite 'ave sum kind a armor to it. Ah dun even know iffin our bullets will hurt it though." She said looking at Sig's shotgun.
    
    
    (22:14:22) Minion: Gossamer rullar 1d20 och får 20. Whoo! Seems a bit of a waste though, I just wanted a knowledge nature check, so a total of 26. I think it's safe to say I know what that fur is.

38. Re: Old School

    #118

    Asha listened quietly, less than confident of their odds against the thing in a close quarters fight. "If this thing is still hunting it might be worth sitting some kind of trap, lure it in and deal with it on our terms; if there's more than one of these a hunting expedition could lead us into an ambush."
    
    She looked over at Marcus, "Was the body in the van eaten or just killed? Few things kill for joy that aren't at least partially human."

39. Re: Old School

    #119

    "These will fer sure," Anya growled, glad that she'd lugged her cannon with her and angry at seeing more people hurt. There's too much of that in this life. Hurt.
    
    "You gave it a blast with that thing and it's still springing around?" That shouldn't be possible. Unless the creature was armoured. Even so, it should eventually bleed out. She too was amazed at the little amount of blood loss that came from Beau's blast.
    
    Nodding at Asha's words she said, "We should stay put, get everyone up that we can spare, we have items to build barricades with so we'll do that. No one will bitch about it. I'll head back up into the tower, even though light is fading we can still set up lights around the perimeter, all the way around. If we can get the place well lit, I can see it and put it down."
    
    She didn't think it was a good idea to pursue the beast. At least until the dawn broke. Asha's idea of a trap sounded good, but how would they make it happen? Oh, to have some AP min...es... shit! don't think of that, don't!!

40. Re: Old School

    #120

    Carniege looked at piece of the intruder.  The fur was not wolf fur, but a domesticated dog, most likely a mutt.  She noticed barely visible silvery lines on the inside of the fur, entwined with the small blood vessels.
    
    Then things became rather distracting...
    
    
    
    
    
    It took a while for the fabric to catch flame, a testament to the cancer-causing flame retardants in the foam, but soon long, bright yellow flames lit the inside of the first van, black, acrid smoke billowing out.
    
    The guards on the walls saw the flame almost immediately, and yet another alarm sounded through Redtower.
    
    "Fire!"
    
    Tilly looked up in sudden fear - quickly hidden but still there - "Now what the hell is going on?"
    
    One of her sons, Jethro by name, ran to grab some equipment.  Others in the encampment were also rushing to get firefighting equipment ready.
    
    
    
    Behind one seat was a nice cache of high proof alcohol.  The heat popped the cork and quickly the vapor caught.  It ignited and added more yellow flame to the inferno.
    
    The interior of the vehicles were all open to each other, so now the flames spread quickly and very soon, all of the vehicles were engulfed.
    
    And then the flames found the good stuff..
    
    
    
    Such noise had only been heard in Kenebac during intense thunderstorms, and everyone felt the blast as much as heard it.  The sound of fragments of debris hitting metal roofing echoed out, as well as the scattered thumps of larger pieces hitting the ground.
    
    
    
    There was nothing but stunned silence at Tilly's. 
    
    
    
    
    

Old Chapters · All categories · Guildhall